Elianna Walton (left) will be the NSW vice-captain for Friday’s State of Origin match.
Photograph: NRL photos

NSW vice-captain Elianna Walton remembers clearly her first introduction to rugby league. At 15, she watched on as her mother captained the Brothers Holy Spirit side in Brisbane. Weekend sport was a family affair: one of her aunties was also the coach of the Brothers, while Aunty Mary played for the opposition. This particular week, her mum’s side were short on numbers, so Elianna stepped up to fill in. As soon as she was subbed onto the ground, someone made a quick break down the sidelines.

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“I chased like 70m and saved the try – in my first ever game, and right on the line too,” she tells Guardian Australia in the buildup to Friday’s inaugural women’s State of Origin match at North Sydney. “Then I got up and realised it was my Aunty Mary I had tackled!”

Walton can’t stop laughing as she recalls the aftermath. “She was feisty as – I remember she pushed me and said: ‘you little brat, I almost scored a try!’ So I was like, ‘not today, Aunty!’ She still remembers that, too, she says it would’ve been her first try.”

Seemingly, Walton had no choice when it came to rugby. Her mum, she says, was a highly-skilled player back home in New Zealand, even making the training squad for Auckland, but with seven kids, she never had the opportunity (or the pathways) to pursue representative sport. Now, all seven of her children play, with two of Walton’s sisters representing the Cook Islands at the recent World Cup, while Walton suited up for the Jillaroos.

“I’m Samoan Cook Islander,” says Walton. “They [Cook Islands] did ask me about my allegiance for the World Cup, but I’ve been a Jillaroo since 2008 and had already started training with them. I actually coached the team that got Cook Islands into the World Cup, so I pushed hard to open the door and provide that opportunity for them. Thankfully my family were supportive of the decision to stick with the Jillaroos.”

Now, over a career spanning 10 years, Walton has 14 Jillaroos caps and has made nineappearances for New South Wales – the most of any NSW women’s rugby league player. Friday night’s Origin game against Queensland will make it 10 – a milestone she’s very proud of. All being well, her mother will fly over to cheer her on, while her husband, daughter and son will also be there – the latter of whom she has coached during his junior career, in keeping with family tradition.

Elianna Walton crashes over to score a try during the 2017 Women’s Rugby League World Cup. Photograph: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Friday night marks not only a milestone for Walton, but the women’s game in general. It is the first time the interstate representative game has been labelled State of Origin – previously having been known as the Interstate Challenge. Walton says the shift is a strange one for her, given she’s always thought of the game as State of Origin, but she can appreciate what the shift does for the profile of women’s rugby league.

“I’ve only ever said it was State of Origin, whether it was [called] Interstate Challenge or not,” she says. “I’ve always taken it as that – but having the title just makes it complete – it makes us worthy of being in that same calibre as the men.”

In line with the increased profile that the rebrand brings, the game will be played on Friday night under lights at North Sydney Oval. Watson says those tuning in should expect “mate on mate, state on state” action – with the NSW team fired up to make it three wins in a row in a significant turnaround on a dismal historical record. Before their breakthrough win in 2016, and with 2015 a draw, NSW had lost their last 17 games in a row to Queensland.

“I’m from that era where we [women] had to pay to play, and we [NSW] used to get annihilated,” says Walton. “It wasn’t very much fun back in the day. But now we have the consistency of having the same girls in the team and we all have the same goal, we want to keep that ball rolling.”

“Having the support of NSW Rugby League and having us in the same pathways program as the boys [has been a game-changer],” Walton says. “Even just understanding the science about being an athlete, understanding our bodies and what we can do – especially for us women, because we’re different, and it takes us longer to recover than men.

“Understanding our bodies better means we can be smarter, with GPS tracking, heart-rate monitors, knowing how hard we’ve run and how hard we should be training is really important,” she says.

“[Back when we were losing all the time] we used to get flogged at training, and it wasn’t working because we kept breaking down. Now we’re getting help with off-field stuff – becoming a better human, mental health, nutrition, knowing what to eat before training, when to eat... it has all really helped.”

The effects of those pathways leave Walton confident that the Blues will make it three wins in a row – provided they play with the “NSW Origin spirit”. Asked to define the sometimes esoteric notion, Walton is precise.

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“We have a trademark, that we all agreed on: one in, all in,” she says. “So we have that attitude and that connection with everyone who buys into the Blues jersey. Whether it’s your first Origin, or you’ve played for 10 years like myself, everyone is a part of it, the staff, everyone who lives the lifestyle, and [subscribes to] the culture that we’ve had instilled. I think that’s what I love the most, that we’re all on the same page.”

So does that mean there’ll be no nerves for Walton going into Friday night?

“I feel calm and collected… normally I freak out,” she says. “I think I’m calm because of the type of players I’m playing alongside. Kezzie Apps, Sam Bremner, Maddie Studdon (captain), Taleena [Simon] transitioning from sevens who spoke this week about how Origin means to her, and then girls like Quincey Dodd, coming in for the first time ever – she’s so excited to be amongst the likes of us. We have a lot of depth now, and it really showed at nationals. So I’m calm, but ask me a couple of hours beforehand and I might not be.”